CHICAGO -- Manager Blake Butera tried to swiftly dash into his office after delivering his postgame address to the team, but there was no way his energized players were going to let him slip away without a proper celebration.
“I got crushed,” Butera said with a smile.
The Nationals commemorated Butera’s first win as a Major League manager by soaking him with shaving cream and beer following their 10-4 Opening Day victory over the Cubs on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
“I’m excited and happy for the group … the coaches, support staff, players, everybody,” Butera, 33, said. “Obviously there’s still 161 more, but [I’m] happy to get off on the right footing.”
A series of firsts led to the Nationals' first win of the 2026 season.
First game for Paul Toboni as president of baseball operations, first game for Butera as a big league manager and the first Opening Day for 10 players on the roster.
A team with a front office and coaching staff that was revamped this offseason carried a consistent approach from Spring Training into Game 1, where Washington scored the most runs in team history (2005-present) on Opening Day.
“It’s turning a leaf, starting new with a lot of things,” said center fielder Jacob Young. “It’s awesome for Blake to get that first one, and it’s awesome for a lot of guys in here just to start feeling good on the winning side of the column. It’s a good feeling, and we’re hoping just to keep it going.”
After finishing 66-96 last season and below .500 for the sixth straight year since 2019, the ‘26 Nationals are inspired for the year ahead of them. They have bought into the messaging and approach Butera outlined in camp, embracing the steps toward development with routines and daily habits. They also have welcomed frequently changing roles and lineups based on matchups.
“We were fired up, we were ready to play,” said long reliever Brad Lord. “The bats showed up and put up a pile of runs on a good starter [Matthew Boyd]. It just shows all the work that we put in in Spring Training, and we look to keep it rolling.”
In a game where Andrés Chaparro batted second in the order and CJ Abrams hit behind Joey Wiemer, the Nationals battled the Cubs -- and the wind -- to put up a six-run fourth inning and collect 11 hits on the day. Young, Wiemer and Brady House went yard. Then four relievers stepped up after Cade Cavalli’s 75-pitch mark and managed 5 1/3 innings with just one run allowed.
“It shows what we’ve known all along -- that we’ve got a bunch of dogs that are willing to compete and go out there and get as many outs as they can,” said Lord, who earned the win. “It was a good, collective effort today.”
The Nationals won their first Opening Day matchup since 2021 when they hosted the Braves, and their first road Opening Day since 2018 in Cincinnati. Butera became the fifth Nats manager to win his inaugural Opening Day game. He joins Dave Martinez (2018), Dusty Baker (‘16), Matt Williams (‘14) and Davey Johnson (‘12).
“You envision yourself over and over winning the first game and what that’s going to look like and feel like and all those things,” said Butera. “But until you’re there, it actually happens and you see just how happy the guys are, how fired up everybody was and how well they played, too, it’s way better than you can imagine.”
While the Nationals were in command of the game after their fourth-inning scoring burst, a milestone like this wasn’t something Butera was just going to take for granted. It wasn’t until Cionel Pérez caught Pete Crow-Armstrong swinging at a slurve in the ninth that Butera was able to exhale in sheer joy.
“I was very happy,” Butera said. “You can never assume the game’s over, so you’re always in the moment. So once it was done, it was like, [sighs], there we go.”